"I will not--no, I will not," replied the young man, thoughtfully. "I will prevent it--nay, it might be wise to acquire a right to prevent it."
"Never do a wrong to attain what you judge right," answered Da Vinci. "And now good-night. You have your posts to look to; a calm walk beneath the moon, with thought for your companion, will do you good."
Lorenzo pressed his hand and they parted.
CHAPTER XVII.
There was a little monticule by the road-side just on the Tuscan frontier. At the distance of about three quarters of a mile in front was the small fortified town of Vivizano with its citadel, seeming strong and capable of defence; but the walls were old, especially those of the town, and along the flat, and apparently perpendicular faces of the curtain, the goats, unconscious of danger, were walking quietly along, browsing on those fresh shoots of the caper plant, which frequently appear during a benign autumn. At a distance it seemed that there was not footing even for a goat, but the presence of those animals showed the mortar to have been worn out between the stones; and at one spot the keen eye of Lorenzo Visconti perceived three or four of the bearded beasts of the mountain gathered together as if in conclave. He marked the fact well, for he had learned that nothing should escape a soldier's notice.
He and his party had taken up their position on the little hill in consequence of orders received from the main body, which was coming up rapidly, and no opposition having yet been met with in the course of the march, Leonora and her women sat on their horses and mules beside him, little anticipating any danger.
"It looks a beautiful old place, Lorenzo," said Leonora; "at least at this distance, though one cannot tell what it may be within. But what made the king order you to halt here as soon as you came in sight of the town, instead of marching on as before?"
"I cannot tell," replied her lover, "unless, dear girl, it is that I sent last night to know if I might fall back to confer with your severe relation, the Cardinal Julian de Rovera as to the journey to Bologna. The roads may part here. Do you not see that yellow streak running away through the meadows, and then skirting the foot of the mountain? That may be the highway to Bologna perhaps. The king is always kind and considerate."
"Jesu Maria!" cried Madonna Mariana, "what's that?"
The moment before she spoke a flash, sudden and bright, glanced along a part of the old wall, and after a second or two the loud boom of one the cannons of those days burst upon the ear. Hardly had it ceased when a ball came whizzing by, and ploughed up the earth some fifty yards behind them, and at about the same distance on the right.